Mikey Rox, who has a name we’re convinced he created just so anyone addressing him would have to vocalize how utterly awesome he is, this month proposed to his partner Earl via YouTube. And Earl accepted, via Facebook. Ador, right? Well now they’re trying to get a large corporate home goods retailer to pay for their wedding. And dammit, don’t we love a feel good romance that’s backed by a gay design favorite.

Crate & Barrel is offering a $100,000 grand prize to the winner of its Ultimate Wedding contest, and as it stands, Mikey and Earl are in fourth place. Understand, we get pitched a dozen times a day to highlight some contest one of our readers entered, and while we wish we could shower you all with attention, it would just devalue the posts where we’re actually thrilled to throw you some free press.

Which is why we’re getting behind Mikey and Earl’s $100,000 attempt to get a Crate & Barrel to give them the wedding of their dreams, which they promise, if they come true, “(1) the celebration will kick off on the open-air terrace of Inside Park, a beautiful venue adjacent to St. Bart’s Cathedral on Park Ave; (2) comedienne Kathy Griffin will warm up the crowd before we arrive by yellow cab; and (3) as we share our love with family and friends, Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Buble will perform his hit song ‘Everything’ to commemorate our first dance.” And we’re all invited, right?

But be forewarned: They’re going up against another gay couple. Gregory and Jonathan are in the No. 2 spot right now, and their photo is just as cute. These two “want a simple, but elegant affair at an outdoor vineyard in the DC area with our family and friends from across the country. Our family and friends are very important to us and our dream day would not be complete unless we were surrounded by all of them. And we want all of these people to be able to celebrate our love for each other and enjoy a memorable occasion.”

Of course, once they win they’re going to ask that you select gifts from their C&B registry …

Either way, of course we have to make sure the gays win. But if you have to choose between Mikey & Earl or Gregory & Jonathan, who would you pick?

UPDATE: We missed out on mentioning Emily & Rachael, who are currently in eighth place. You can vote for them on C&B’s site here; unfortunately editing our own poll completely resets it. But we didn’t mean to look over our gals who want to have their ceremony “outdoors with a chic and intimate after party. Mediterranean finger foods is number one on our wish list to implement one of our favorite types of food that’s simple for all of our guests to eat. We’d like the reception to be a cocktail party setting with music selected primarily by us but with a D.J. to coordinate it all. The days garments are of the utmost import, a haute yet functional dress for Emily and a Prada suit for Rachel- this detail is non-negotiable!”

Thank you for posting this! And we won’t be asking you all for gifts from the registry… just don’t tell Crate and Barrel that :-)

Feb 23, 2010 at 2:23 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

It’s great that gay couples are doing so well in the contest. I have to say that Gregory and Johnathans wedding got my attention more…having Kathy Griffin and Michael Bubble and all the other stuff at a wedding sounds great, but it sounds so over the top…kind of like what those straight women on the show bridezillas. The DC wedding with friends and family sounded like a sweet intimate thing.

Feb 23, 2010 at 2:28 pm · @Reply ·

Chris

Hey all just a little insight on who i think you should vote for, i read this on Jon and Gregs blog, it is really touching

Thanks, Queerty! We hope your readers will give equal love to all the contests in this contest. Each of us has as fair a shot as the next. Also, about our “dream wedding” plans – this contest is for the Ultimate Wedding, and the contest rules suggest that we have to spend all of the prize money on the wedding – that’s sort of why we went “big.” No reason to waste all that dough. Congrats to all the couples competing and best of luck!

Why should Emily and Rachel win over these guys… I think that it would be awesome for all of the same sex couples to end up in the top ten but the story of Jonathan and Greg is heartfelt and they have overcome a lot… they get my vote and my support

Not saying they should win over the other couples mentioned but it’s pretty poor that they’ve been ignored considering they’re 8th. If I’m not mistaken the logo at the top of the site implies that this site is both for gays AND lesbians – sadly the overall content of this site doesn’t exactly reflect that very well.

Feb 23, 2010 at 3:17 pm · @Reply ·

Doug

How about doing something meaningful with most of the $100.000 like donating it to a free health clinic, homeless shelter, food pantry or aids research. The couple could take maybe $20.000 on the wedding and honeymoon and have a wonderful time! $80.000 could maybe help someone survive another day.

Feb 23, 2010 at 3:20 pm · @Reply ·

Tiff

Well even if you don’t believe that Emily and Rachel should win over these guys, it would have been nice to have at least seen a mention of them in the article.

No. 7 · Mikey Rox said…
Also, about our “dream wedding” plans – this contest is for the Ultimate Wedding, and the contest rules suggest that we have to spend all of the prize money on the wedding – that’s sort of why we went “big.”
________________________________

Ahhhhh, I didn’t know that you had to spend all of the money on the wedding. well THAT makes sense then! congrats and good luck!

@Cam I though he needed to spend all the money on the wedding and then he is going to donate it to other contestants… sounds like he wants the best of both worlds or maybe he is just pandering for votes

Feb 23, 2010 at 3:54 pm · @Reply ·

jazz.june

I don’t understand why you completely forgot to write about the lesbians. That was a bizarre omission.
What happened to queer solidarity?
Oh, right, I forgot–although only straight people get to get married, only queer men get to be fabulous.

Thank you for those who voted for us and continue to support us. I hope we can all be supportive of each other, would be great for all the same sex couples to finish 1-2-3. This contest has shown us the power and strength of community. Regardless if we win, it makes us feel proud to be part of this community.

Chris: We don’t need to pander for votes. We’re confident that we’re nice guys who want to share our love with others. As anyone can see in our post above on Wicked Gay Blog, I said that we can have just as great a wedding with $50,000 as we can with $100,000. Even more so, in fact, because we’re dedicated to the happiness of other people as well – and not just ourselves. If you’ve been following me, as I assume you have, then you know that I’ve only wished every contestant the best of luck and I humbly appreciate all the support we’ve been given. Is it a crime to play fair AND think of others at the same time?

Feb 23, 2010 at 4:06 pm · @Reply ·

terrwill

I sense a Maggot eruption very soon……………..

To the laides, Queerty was as usual, negligent in their duties (like not replying to posters E-mails) and didn’t bother to consider that there were other Gay couples than the two they found. Nonetheless, instead of everyone throwing a bitchfit. Simply vote like crazy and insure that the top couples are Gays, It doesn’t matter which brand of Gay as long as they are Gay………Mazel Toz (sp?) to you all…….

@Chris… I want to thank you for your support but I also want to say that there is no need to trash anybody, this is a contest open to anybody and we think that it would be awesome if the top 2, 3, 8 or 50 couples were gay…

This entire contest our friends family and community have been very supportive, we all have stories and love is an important one that we are lucky enough to tell. Vote for who you want to vote for but lets keep this positive and fun.

Feb 23, 2010 at 4:32 pm · @Reply ·

JD

@Your Mom: That was my oversight! I didn’t see those gals down there (I only verified the Top 5). But yes, throw some love to Emily & Rachel if they have a more compelling story :)

Feb 23, 2010 at 4:54 pm · @Reply ·

Ricky

I was won over by Feist and Prada and Mediterranean.

IN that order.

my votes in for the womenz.

Good Luck!

Feb 23, 2010 at 4:55 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

No. 19 · jazz.june said….
I don’t understand why you completely forgot to write about the lesbians. That was a bizarre omission.
What happened to queer solidarity?
Oh, right, I forgot–although only straight people get to get married, only queer men get to be fabulous.
___________________________

Or they didn’t want to page through the tons of entrants and only looked at the top ten or so. Sheesh.

Feb 23, 2010 at 6:01 pm · @Reply ·

Loe

Yay Emily and Rachel!

Feb 23, 2010 at 6:02 pm · @Reply ·

Emily Hartl

I am blushing, thank you all for taking notice! We are so excited to have a chance. It used to be one in a million and if we can keep votes up it will be one in 50.

This means a lot to Rachel and I, especially because our link was deemed “abusive” on Facebook by someone in the past two weeks and that has made it harder to get the message out there. The good news is that the roadblock has actually helped raise awareness for the whole community as well as giving us a real chance.

Hey Emily good luck and congratulations on your engagement! The “abusive” problem on Facebook was obnoxious, apparently it was most entires. We contacted the people running the contest, and they apologized for the system wide problem. Thank goodness they finally fixed the problem.

I just figure when the unwanted emails start pouring in, I’ll flag them.

Feb 23, 2010 at 10:40 pm · @Reply ·

Lukas P.

Congrats and thanks to all the couples for telling their stories. My vote is secret but I am voting.

It’s a win for the GL community whoever gets the numero uno prize, because just being represented speaks volumes. Crate & Barrel was founded in Chicagoland, and has a very large and vocal GLBT staff hereabouts. They were also among the first major US retailers to open up their wedding registry to same-sex couples.

I tell every couple I know the same thing: Please spend as much time & energy on planning your marriage as you do on your wedding because the stuff that’s photographed and celebrated is just a start to a much more interesting, satisfying and life-changing experience.

With that, I say, whether you serve Aldi’s or Wolfgang Puck at your wedding, whether you wear Prada or Payless, whether you dance to a live band or a DJ, you have my/our best wishes! Bon courage! Lycka till! Buona fortuna!

P.s. Mom….um, yeah, we’re working on the details. Call off the florist and Aunt Eva until we set a date…..

Feb 23, 2010 at 11:20 pm · @Reply ·

JoshP

the number one couple meet when they were children and then got cancer before the wedding… that’s gonna be hell a hard to beat.

Feb 23, 2010 at 11:22 pm · @Reply ·

lakas

You know there are still black people struggling in Haiti, right? But yeah, voting for gay white couples to get C&B swag should remain a top priority! Go Team Gregory & Jonathan!!!

Feb 24, 2010 at 1:56 am · @Reply ·

NoDoubleStandards

@lakas: Are the people in Haiti going to suffer a little less if gay white folks don’t win the wedding competition? I mean- i agree about the white centric nature of gaydom, but come on- Haiti? That’s like my mom saying starving children in Africa will be harmed if I don’t eat my veggies.

Feb 24, 2010 at 2:21 am · @Reply ·

lakas

@no@NoDoubleStandards: Oh you’re totally entitled to your first world issues and whatever else trivial poll voting you want to click on all day long. You’re right, those darkies are already suffering and starving without you anyway. Let’s poll vote till kingdom comes! Awesome!

Feb 24, 2010 at 1:24 pm · @Reply ·

NoDoubleStandards

@lakas: You know nothing about my background. Yet you seem to think you do.

Feb 24, 2010 at 4:30 pm · @Reply ·

Lukas P.

@lakas: Please spend the time you use here on Queerty to help the Haitians instead of wasting it on us unschooled, uncharitable, racist people. The world will be better off. The medical team I sent supplies to in Haiti certainly was thankful for the donation, and they never once asked about my race. Should they have?

@NoDoubleStandards: Amen! The fact that same-sex couples are
getting married and telling their stories is something many folks wish to deny and gloss over. C&B didn’t limit their contest to “whites only,” “heteros only” or “attractive looking people only.”

How people vote is up to them.

Feb 24, 2010 at 7:20 pm · @Reply ·

Alec

Hey ya’ll — I was just reading the rules, and I wanted to point out that our couple don’t actually WIN if they have the most votes. They are just ELIGIBLE to win — see the winning rules below:
—-
Representatives chosen by Sponsor (the “Judges”) will select all prize winners from the 50 Finalists. The decisions of the Judges are final and binding on all matters relating to the selection of winners. The final judging will take place in or about mid-April 2010. The Finalists will be judged on the following criteria in the Judges’ sole and unfettered discretion:

•Originality and creativity of Entrant’s responses to the topics (50%);
•How well Entry invokes and inspires Crate and Barrel’s lifestyle (30%);
•Entry’s Ranking in public voting (20%) as follows: 1st–10th place in public voting will receive 8 points; 10th–20th place will receive 6 points; 20th–30th place will receive 4 points; and the remaining 20 Finalists will receive 0 points.
Each Entry will be given a score by the Judges based on the above. The Entry with the highest score will be deemed the Grand Prize Winner; the Entries with the next-highest scores (2nd–18th places) will be deemed the Second and Third Prize winners and the Honorable Mention Prize winners, in order of highest to lowest scores. The remaining 32 Finalists will be ranked in total score order, highest to lowest, but will not receive a prize unless a prize winner is ineligible or declines a prize, and such Finalist has the next highest score.

Feb 24, 2010 at 9:57 pm · @Reply ·

Elm

Skrew it…I’ll say it. I’M SICK OF HAITI being interjected into every dang conversation. Done. We were having an office party after so many of us were unsure of our jobs, even having a job or not, and the company decided as awhole to celebrate much needed good news. Of course, someone who always needs to feel like a victim brought up Haiti and how our 20 boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts could have saved a life in Haiti and complained to Corporate about it…well you know what? I don’t care! There. I said it. I’m sick of the world having to end ALL enjoyment forever and never spend a dime unless it’s going in the country of Haiti. Skrew that BS! If were meant to have a ‘moment of silence’ and pay half our salary for every suffering and disaster taking place on the planet; the human race would be a poor miserable one for all of time. Enough.

May the best gay couple win this most charming contest and may you enjoy every last penny of every last minute.

Feb 25, 2010 at 4:15 am · @Reply ·

Chris

I just wanted to point out that the same sex couple Jonathan and Gregory are leading the votes now